Taiwan Rising to the Challenge of Global Recession and Developing a Sustainable Workforce Post-Pandemic

Co-launching the fully digital survey 2023 with the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan, Robert Walters reveals roles and skill sets in highest demand, as well as the change in candidate and company expectations 

Taipei – The Taiwan job market has been robust over the last two years due to the global tech talent shortage. In 2023 the market will be facing uncertainties amidst waning export demand, looming recession and geopolitical tension but will still remain short of candidates. Companies are expected to face challenges in hiring quality candidates and building a sustainable workforce post-pandemic, according to the digital Salary Survey 2023 released by Robert Walters, one of the world-leading specialist professional recruitment consultancies.

Overview
Taiwan has been able to cope well with the pandemic and that has allowed for a relatively fast economic recovery in 2022. Companies competed fiercely for top talent, especially within the technology, e-commerce, healthcare, and logistics sectors, and many of them have been offering salary increments as high as 20-25% to attract the top job seekers. 

Despite the Taiwan government implementing various policies to support domestic industries and attract foreign investment, 2023 is set to be a challenging time for recruiting the right talent due to uncertainties. A candidate short market will persist – 57% of professionals are looking to change jobs in 2023 with 90% of them putting more emphasis on job stability. Average salary increments will vary across industries and skills and are anticipated to be around 10-15%. However, with the widespread global skill shortages, companies may scramble to fill some vacancies requiring new tech and niche skill sets, with those professionals expected to command over 25% pay rises.

Tech sector will remain globally competitive
The tech industry has seen a string of massive layoffs in the US in the face of uncertain economic conditions and the crypto market slump. The Taiwan tech sector may enter a cyclical downturn with a softened hiring market in 2023 due to cooling demand, oversupply and exceptionally strong growth over the last few years. Nevertheless, with Taiwan being the leader in semiconductors and foreign tech companies still keen to invest in Taiwan, there will be a strong demand for skilled talent in the long run. This includes areas such as electrical vehicle applications, cloud/enterprise server and 5G base station. Top skills in demand will include software development, cyber security, DevOps/SRE for the Software & IT sector, and analog design, digital design as well as design verification for the semiconductor sector.

The survey found that 78% of software, semiconductor & IT professionals and 65% of electrical products & industrial professionals are expecting a pay rise in 2023. Despite a return of some overseas professionals, the competition for top talent will remain fierce with only 50% of surveyed Taiwan tech talent looking to change jobs in the next 12 months due to the concern in job stability.

Take a skills-based approach to building the future workforce
Skilled talent across all sectors will become even more scarce in Taiwan especially for hard-to-fill roles, such as software engineers. The survey revealed that 85% of employers are concerned about a skill shortage in their field of hiring.

Instead of competing over a small pool of talent with similar credentials, which will only inflate salaries and costs, companies are advised to look beyond the résumé and shift towards a skills-based hiring strategy – identifying and selecting candidates based on their specific skills and qualifications, rather than solely on their experience or education.

Create a sustainable workforce to avoid gaps in expectations
Apart from the talent shortage, 60% of employers reported the challenge of unmatched salary expectations during the interview process and 59% of them experienced high competition for candidates from competitors’ counteroffers and buy-backs. The disconnect between the expectations of employers and candidates was mainly driven by the proliferation in salaries and employee benefits to compete for talent during the pandemic in Taiwan, and underscores the growing importance of non-financial benefits to attract and retain staff.

To create a sustainable ecosystem in a longer run, companies are strongly advised to offer a comprehensive package including flexible working arrangements, opportunities for learning and development, solid ED&I strategies etc. if they are to win over employees without continually increasing their salary offers.

Develop a more humanistic workplace to retain employees
Another challenge faced by employers in Taiwan is navigating the transition back to pre-pandemic circumstances, and to ensure productivity, engagement, and well-being are upheld at the same time. Many employees have experienced working from home for the first time during the pandemic and as a result appreciate the flexibility and autonomy that this new norm can provide, especially among the HR professionals (42% surveyed). At the same time, professionals have experienced a blurring of lines between work and personal life, leading to a desire for more work-life balance going forward.

Employers are advised to adapt to the accelerated shift towards a more flexible and employee-centric workplace culture and have strategies in place to mitigate the potential descriptions with the transition back to the office, as employees are now expecting their employer to be more responsive to their wellbeing and more adaptable to change.

John Winter - General Manager at Robert Walters Taiwan, said:
“The Taiwan job market is one of the most dynamic in the region and we're confident that it will continue to be a destination of choice for job seeking and investment. The challenges of acute talent shortage and shifting from pandemic-driven workplace to a newer norm will remain in 2023, accompanied by economic uncertainties and rising costs. It is important for companies to place more value on EVPs, bolster company culture and make hiring strategy more inclusive to secure and retain the in-demand talent through 2023.

“Employers are encouraged to consider candidates who may not have direct experience in the specific role but have transferable skills; continue to upskill them and invest in their development to keep them motivated. This not only helps secure talent in the short run, but also builds a strong pipeline for company growth.”

Please refer to this link for the presentation: Robert Walters 2023 Salary Survey

歐洲商會&華德士2023薪資調查：專業人才加薪上看25%

歐洲商會攜手全球專業徵才諮詢公司華德士，共同發表「2023數位薪資調查」，報告中揭露後疫情時代下就業市場需求最大的職務和技能，以及求職者和企業期望的變化。

台北 - 由於全球科技人才短缺，台灣的就業市場在過去兩年十分強勁。然而，隨著出口需求減弱、經濟衰退和地緣政治緊張局勢的威脅，2023年市場將面臨不確定性，且職缺供過於求。根據全球專業徵才諮詢公司領導者之一的華德士，其發佈的「2023數位薪資調查」，報告指出，企業在後疫情時期將面臨招募優秀人才和建立可持續勞動力的挑戰。

概論
由於台灣能夠有效因應疫情，2022年的經濟復甦相對迅速，科技、電子商務、醫療保健和物流等行業競相爭取頂尖人才，許多企業甚至提供高達20-25%的加薪條件以吸引優秀的求職者。

儘管台灣政府實施了各種政策支持國內產業和吸引外國投資，但由於存在不確定性，2023年招募適合的人才將面臨挑戰，57%的專業人士打算在2023年轉換工作，其中90%的人更加強調工作穩定性，不同行業和技能的平均薪資增加幅度亦將有所不同，預計將落在10-15%左右，勞動力市場短缺的情況將持續存在。然而，由於全球人才短缺，企業可能會競相填補需要新技術和專業技能的空缺職位，這些專業人才預計將可獲得超過25%的薪資成長。

科技業依然保持全球競爭優勢
面對經濟環境的不確定性和加密貨幣市場的低迷，美國的科技產業歷經了一連串的大規模裁員，台灣科技產業由於需求減少、供應過剩以及過去幾年的卓越成長，2023年可能會進入一個週期性的衰退，導致招募市場趨緩。儘管如此，台灣為半導體領域的領導者，外國科技公司仍然熱衷在臺灣投資，因此長期而言，將會有很強大的技術人才需求，包括電動汽車應用、雲端/企業伺服器和5G基站等領域。市場需求量最多的技能包括軟體開發、網絡安全、軟體與IT行業的DevOps/SRE，以及半導體產業的類比設計、數位設計和設計驗證等。

根據調查發現，預計將有78%的軟體、半導體和IT專業人員，以及65%的電子產品和工業專業人員有機會加薪。儘管會有一些海外專業人士回流，但由於擔心工作穩定性，在受訪的台灣科技人才中，只有50%的人計劃在未來12個月內轉換工作。

以技能為基礎 建構未來勞動力
在台灣，各個領域的專業人才將變得更加稀缺，尤其是難以替補的職缺，如軟體工程師。根據調查顯示，85%的雇主對於招募所需領域技能短缺的現象感到擔憂。因此，建議企業物競相爭奪少數資格相似的人才，這只會提高薪資和成本，而是應該改採越過履歷，轉向以技能為基礎的招募策略，根據求職者的特定技能和資格進行篩選和選擇，而不僅僅是基於其經驗或教育背景。

建立可持續的勞動力 避免期望落差
除了人才短缺外，60％的雇主指出，他們在面試過程中面臨薪資不符期望的挑戰，其中有59％的雇主表示，求才市場競爭激烈，因為這些來自競業的應徵者，會被原公司加薪或挽留聘用。雇主和求職者期望的落差，主要來自於疫情期間為了爭取人才而提升的薪資和員工福利，這些非財務福利，在台灣就業市場不斷被強調，以吸引和留住人才。

如果企業想要贏得員工的心，就不能光是提高薪資待遇，從長遠來看，為了建立可持續的工作環境，企業應該提供綜合性的福利方案，包括靈活的工作安排、學習和發展的機會、穩固的平等多元包容策略等。

打造更具人文氣息的工作環境以留下員工
台灣雇主面臨到的另一個挑戰，是如何從過渡期回到疫情前的正常狀態，並同時確保生產力、參與度和員工福祉。許多員工在疫情期間首次體驗在家工作，十分認同這種新的工作模式所帶來的靈活性和自主權，特別是對於人力資源專業人員來說（42%受訪者）。同時，員工也經歷了工作和個人生活之間的模糊界限，因此希望未來在工作與生活之間有更好的平衡。

建議雇主需盡快適應現在高速轉向更具彈性和以員工為中心的工作場所文化，並制定應對策略以減輕員工重返辦公室所可能產生的困境，因為員工期望雇主能夠更關注他們的福利，以及他們對變化的高度適應性。

華德士台灣總經理John Winter表示：「台灣的就業市場是該地區最具活力的之一，我們相信它依然是求職和投資的首選目的地。在2023年嚴重的人才短缺以及從以疫情為驅動的工作場所轉型到新常態的挑戰將繼續存在，同時還伴隨著經濟不確定性和成本上升，對於公司來說，更加重視員工價值主張、加強企業文化，並使招募策略更具包容性，確保2023年能獲得和留住企業所需人才是非常重要的。」

他也提出：「我們鼓勵雇主考慮那些沒有直接相關經驗但具有可轉移技能的求職者；持續提升他們的技術能力，並投資他們的發展，以保持他們的積極性。這不僅有助於短期內確保有足夠人才，還能為公司的發展打造堅實的人才儲備資源。」

華德士2023數位薪資調查報告，詳請此連結：Robert Walters 2023 Salary Survey